Use Somebody
by And The Moment's Gone
Summary: Being alone at lunch is an oddity of late. Veronica receives a request from the most unlikely of places
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Use Somebody

**Word** **Count**: 1,439

**Rating**: PG-13 for the language. May change in the future.

**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Goes AU middle of season 2. Just after Duncan leaves and Logan and Hannah started dating.

**Summary**: Being alone at lunch is an oddity as of late.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Veronica Mars characters and plots belong to Rob Thomas and the CW. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls, and any other character featured are NOT mine.

* * *

Being alone at lunch is an oddity as of late.

Apparently her boyfriend fleeing the country with his dead ex-girlfriend's baby makes Veronica the popular person to spend time with. That or the person next to her lost the straw draw on the day's suicide watch. So when Mac tells her that Cassidy is going to make an attempt at introducing her to the '09er table and Wallace is eating lunch with the basketball team, she's more than a little relieved. She gets time to herself again.

It only lasts five minutes.

Less than that if she thinks about it. There had been a blonde head staring at her from one of the sports tables ever since she entered the quad and when she sat down, she could feel the eyes getting closer.

The only thing worse than knowing how and why Hannah Griffith exists is having her plop down at the lunch table in front of you.

Veronica has no idea how she got her name, and she's seriously thinking about tazering the moron that pointed her out. By the semi-evil smile gracing Dick's features, she's sure that the elder Casablancas' just made her shit list.

Sadly though it doesn't make what's happening right before her eyes any better.

"You're Veronica, right?"

For a split second, she contemplates the look that is going to cross Dick's features as a thousand volts of electricity shoots through his body. Then she realizes that Hannah's still watching her with that same sickeningly sweet look on her face. The pen dangling from her fingers drops to the notebook with a dull thud and she turns slightly. "I'm Veronica." She confirms slowly, nodding slightly. "And _you're_ Hannah."

"You've heard of me?" Her face drops the smile, but she's still far too hopeful for anyone's liking.

"It's hard not to." The hopeful look wavers, and somehow Veronica finds she's equal parts proud and ashamed of herself. After all, it's not Hannah's fault that her boyfriend used to be Veronica's. Or that there are at least five people out on the terrace at that very moment that knows he's just using her. "What can I do for you, Hannah?"

It's her turn to throw a look to the '09er table. Whether to reassure herself that said boyfriend was still in the journalism room finishing an article or wishing herself elsewhere is really anyone's guess. "I need your help…"

It's official, or so Veronica thinks. The earth has begun its backwards rotation, and she's about to down the entire bottle she's been using for her 'help me' drinking game. "You need my help?" The words come out slowly, and she chokes on the breath she didn't realize that she's been holding.

And out of the corner of her eye she notices that Dick suddenly looks a little worried too.

So she does the only thing she can think of.

Veronica laughs.

It's not loud and maniacal, nothing like what she keeps teasing Weevil with, and not the kind of laugh that her ex-boyfriend used to joke you about. No, not that one. The one that fled the country with his illegitimate child. She should be better about labeling her boyfriends by now. There have only been four.

And suddenly her laughing stops and she looks back at Hannah, who has enough sense to look relatively concerned.

"You need my help?" Damn the echo in her head. "Hannah, you're a nice girl, sickeningly sweet most of the time actually." When her eyes furrow, Veronica has to hold off another laugh. "You make excellent grades and you listen to your parents, and the last time anyone talked to me, I heard how terrific you were from half the pep squad." Hannah beams then, and she has to resist the urge to smack her. "And on top of it all, you're dating the guy who comes a close second to the Casablancas' brothers in the 'I'm legally emancipated and have more money than God' category in school. What could you possibly need my help with?"

Hannah smiles carefully as she looks down at her purse and water and not for the first time Veronica wonders if this was payback for the spineless jellyfish she had been back when Lilly was still alive. Could it be possible that the Queen of Mean herself set this one up wherever she was?

"It's about Logan…"

And for the second time that day she feels like it's _her _who's been tazered.

"Logan…" Again Veronica repeats her, all the while doing a wonderful impression of a landed fish if she does say so herself. She doesn't really have anything to follow that, so she repeats his name again, this time holding out the first syllable just a little longer than usual. She glanced around the quad rather quickly and then turned back to Hannah. "Okay, I'll bite. What's wrong with Logan?"

There was a pause. As if Hannah was weighing her odds about being there. Well, she had already sat down. The hard part had been over. "He's…" Her head shakes and she swallows back the sentence that's clogging her throat. "He's changed a lot."

And Veronica doesn't even know where to start. "He's changed?" She asks carefully. Hannah starts nodding almost immediately and Veronica sighs. "Changed _how_?"

"He got a letter from some guy last week and…" Her bottom lip gets pulled between her teeth as she thinks. "He's different."

_Could she be any more vague? _"He's gotten quieter? Louder? He's drinking more? He's stopped altogether? You have to give me something here." Hannah stares at her for a second and Veronica runs a hand through her hair. "And do you know who the letter was from?"

"He threw the envelope away without even reading it." She shrugged. "And he's been quiet. Like _really_ quiet. He doesn't want to eat out here with anyone anymore." Weighing her options again, she leans into the table. "He barely touches me." Hannah's eyes were wide as she attempted to whisper.

Veronica had to bite back a laugh. So that was Little Miss Sunshine's problem. Logan's gone from raging sex god to barely there, and she's freaking. Fortunately there were only two things that Veronica knew of that could turn his libido off like a light. Unfortunately, neither were things that she could tell his impressionable girlfriend.

For half of a second she thought about lying to Hannah. It would have been entertaining to make something up about erectile dysfunction or some sort of drug usage. Then again Veronica had just recently found out that her father was a coke addict working for the Fitzpatrick's so it might not have been the best of ideas. So instead she takes a sip of the soda that she had snagged from Cassidy's tray and tries to smile.

"I'm sure it's nothing." She says after a moment. "Logan goes through days just like everyone else." Veronica had to pat herself on the back. She actually sounded calm and caring. Two things that she didn't equate with Logan much anymore. "I'm sure he'll be back to his normal wonderful self in a day or two."

But Hannah didn't look convinced. "I don't know." She whispers, toying with the end of her braid. Veronica almost told her that she was creating split ends. "He's been like this for a while."

"A week doesn't constitute a while." She tells the other blonde quickly, and when Hannah glares at the table she shakes her head. "Hannah, I know Logan, and he's probably fine."

"Could you…" The freshman looks back to the 09er table and Veronica laughs as Dick throws her a weak smile. "Could you talk to him?"

The coke burns coming up her nose, and Veronica immediately reaches up to keep it from splattering on her notebook. "Excuse me?"

"Do you think you could talk to him?" Hannah's looking at her earnestly now, almost pleading without words. "You said you knew him, could you at least try?"

Veronica's smile is back again, a bit less indulgent than before. "If I say yes, will you walk away?" Off Hannah's frown, Veronica nods to Dick. "It's not helping your situation with Logan that most of his cronies are watching us talk."

Realization dawns quickly and Hannah nods. "So you'll do it?"

"I will attempt a conversation with Logan." Veronica promises slowly. "Now off with you."

"Thank you!" Hannah moves to take Veronica's hand and freezes. "Thank you!"

She watches the younger girl leave and then drops her head to the tabletop. From the back of her mind she would swear she could hear Lilly laughing.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Use Somebody  
**Word** **Count**: 1,691  
**Pairings**: Logan/ Hannah Griffith, Logan/Veronica  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language. May change in the future.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Goes AU middle of season 2. Takes place just after 2.14 {Versatile Toppings}  
**Summary**: Being alone at lunch is an oddity as of late.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Veronica Mars characters and plots belong to Rob Thomas and the CW. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls, and any other character featured are NOT mine.

* * *

He turned the corner into a supposedly empty hallway and there she was, leaning up against the cool metal of his locker with one hand on the lock. The end of the school day bell rang ten minutes ago and they've got roughly twenty before both of them needed to be in the journalism room for the weekly layout meeting. Logan had been planning on spending that time out in the parking lot with Dick and Beaver, pretending to catch up on the latest school gossip. Or maybe convincing the boys to ride with him down to Cho's and grabbing a ready to order pie. As Veronica smiled at him he realizes that this is just as good.

"Veronica Mars." Her name slides from Logan's lips, and she shifts uncomfortably against the locker. He wants to attribute it to the fact that it always annoys her to be addressed by first and last name. It's more likely due to the fact that he's drawn out all five syllables as though they were separate words. Just like he used to, after Lilly…

It's Logan's turn to shift uncomfortably.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" His head tilts to match the angle of hers, just as her smirk adjusts to mimic his. If she decides that now's the time to ask him for a favor, he's already figured out that he's a goner.

Thankfully that's not on her agenda.

"I had an interesting lunch buddy today."

Her voice is equal parts sarcasm and sweetness and he finds himself wondering how she manages it. "Oh really?" The locker pops open under her hand, not his and his smirk fades into an amused grin. He's not even going to ask her how she has the combination. "And I wasn't there to see it." His fingers snap together and his face contorts into a classic none too sympathetic face. "Shucks."

"Had you been, I doubt Hannah would have sat down."

His hand lets go of his Econ book and it thuds back down to the bottom of his locker.

There is no way that she could have said what he heard.

No way in Hell.

Peering at her from the side of his locker door, he forces his face back to neutral. "Hannah huh?" He's practiced mild disinterest in the mirror for such an occasion. Not that he ever thought that there would be an occasions in which his new saintly sweet girlfriend would ever need to speak to his ex. Her head nods. "Imagine that."

"Came as a shock to me too." Her head tilts upright again and she pulls her eyes away from his. "Remind me to thank my good buddy Dick for orchestrating it."

His eyebrow quirks and her unspoken message comes around loud and clear.

In many ways they were still the pair that they had always been.

And they had Lilly to thank for that.

The second that the word 'Dick' came out of her mouth he understands. Somehow for reasons that neither can fathom, Dick had nudged Logan's wholesomely pure girlfriend into the oncoming path of Veronica Mars. Well, since Veronica's standing in front of him at the moment, Logan's decided that it's fairly safe for him to assume that Hannah's still breathing somewhere. He's probably going to owe her a gift of some kind at the end of this.

Damn _that_ luck.

"Any particular reason why Dick's being so helpful today?" The aforementioned best friend chose that particular moment to turn the corner, and then promptly back pedaled his way into the hall he had just come from when he sees Logan propped against his locker with Veronica. He was a smart one; for now at least.

Her face was as blank as his. "Apparently she asked him to." There was a beat and then off his look, Veronica frowned too. "Hannah's worried about you."

Confusion.

It was the one emotion that Logan was capable of at the moment.

He hasn't given Hannah any reason that he could think of to suspect something was wrong. Logan back tracked through the past few weeks worth of interactions with Hannah. And there was no logical explanation as to why she would express any concern she had to the nosey pixie in front of him. _So_ _why_…?

The last part _must_ have come out aloud because she's shaking her head at him. "You're too closed off, antisocial, and emotionally unavailable." Veronica offers, as if that was reason enough. Although for someone who didn't know him it just might be. "Not to mention the fact that she's a little disappointed that she hasn't been introduced to Little Logan yet."

"Her words or yours?"

Okay, so this conversation was _not_ going anywhere near where he thought it would when he walked up to her.

"I'm paraphrasing." There's a twinge of annoyance in Veronica's voice that he honed in on instinctively. She was just as confused as to why Hannah chose to ask her about the changes in his life. Doesn't everyone remember that she was hi s ex? "I didn't have the heart to tell her that you're an inconsiderate commitment-phobe who's only using her to get to her lying drug dealer father, and that you're not taking her back to your love den because you've probably got Kendall handcuffed to the bed."

"And they say a person can't do bitter well." He made another try for the government book and practically shoved the offending object into his bag.

According to his watch he's got ten minutes.

"It's called honesty."

He can tell before he does it that his shrug gets to her. "Potato, potahto." He tells her flippantly. "So what, pray tell, _did_ you say to my girlfriend?"

Her features soften, maybe just a little too much. "I told her that I'm only sure it's just another one of your moods and that everything's fine." There's sympathy in her voice and Logan has to take a second to wonder whether it was for Hannah, or himself. "Then she made me promise to talk to you."

The seconds over.

And now he was unsure if the glare he's sending her way was as menacing as he hoped it was. "She what?"

"Pretty much my response too." Veronica smiles then, and runs a hand through her hair. Logan's jaw twitched when he followed its path. He used to do that. She used to let him.

Then again he used to do a lot of things.

Logan's brain was still trying to get over the familiarity of the conversation. It was almost as if the last few months had never happened and the two of them were friends again. He wasn't sure if he liked this new arrangement.

Her lips are moving again, and he can't force himself to care about the fact that he wasn't paying attention. Nothing she's saying makes any sense to him until she says one word, and then she's watching him expectantly. She wants him to say something, but he can't figure out what that something is.

She's noticed that she's lost him somewhere, thankful that he seems a little too caught up in his own inner monologue to find it in himself to be angry with her. "Who's writing you?" She asks again, her eyes peering into his so she knows that he heard her. He takes a step backward and she slams his locker closed for him.

"I'm not talking to you about this." Logan turned and took a few steps toward the journalism room, noting that Veronica was hot on his heels. He could have sworn that Hannah had given up on the issue with his mail. It was only one letter, and she seemed to have forgotten before he dropped her off at home. Apparently not. "Just tell my girlfriend that you talked to me and I'll try to be better."

Her hand shoots out before she can stop herself, wrapping around his bicep and pulling him to a stop. If he wanted, he could break her grip and both of them knew it. "I'm not planning on _telling_ Hannah anything." She said after a quick second, forcing herself to remain calm. "She's worried about you, and as much as I hate to tell you this right now, I'm worried about you too." When her eyes softened Logan pulled his arm out of her grasp. "You can talk to me Logan."

"I'm _fine_." He told her smoothly, running his middle and ring finger over his lips.

His entire body screams _not fine_ loud and clear, but Veronica knows that she can't get anywhere with Logan that he doesn't want to take her. The most she can hope for it for him to know that she'll do her best to understand if he needs her help and then back off. Two things that she's been told by Wallace that she's getting better at.

"Of course you are." She almost taunts, forcing a civil tongue and a hand through her hair. "But in case you're not, I happen to know a good set of ears that knows a little something about not being fine." She rubs his arm and smiles when he doesn't flinch away from her touch.

He studies her face, more to find out if she's done probing and less to do with the fact that this has been the most open that he's seen her since Duncan fled town with his secret love-child. "I'm good." He says again, turning slightly to head to the journalism room and waiting for her to catch up. "Now what do I do with Dick?" He asked the hall off-handedly, more to himself then to anyone else.

"I could always taser him." Veronica added helpfully, gripping the strap to her messenger bag with both hands to keep from touching him again. She's always had the instinct to comfort him. Even when he's pretending that he's not hurting.

He smiles as he imagines it, and then opens the journalism door for her. "I'm not ruling it out." Allowing her to enter before him, he drops his book bag onto his desk.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: Use Somebody  
**Word** **Count**: 2,074  
**Pairings**: Logan/ Hannah Griffith, Logan/Veronica  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language. May change in the future.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Goes AU middle of season 2. Takes place just after 2.14 {Versatile Toppings}  
**Summary**: Being alone at lunch is an oddity as of late.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Veronica Mars characters and plots belong to Rob Thomas and the CW. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls, and any other character featured are NOT mine.

* * *

He finds her outside the gym after journalism, knowing that she's waiting for the father that's always late. He'd offer her a ride if she weren't so desperate for father/daughter time. For a second Logan wonders if that's what it was supposed to look like when a child loves a parent. "Ms. Griffith." He greets her, handing her the brownie he hadn't eaten at lunch.

She takes the chocolate with a smile and ducks her head down sheepishly as she looks at all of the other pep squad members waiting in the carpool lane. "Mr. Echolls." She returns slightly more confidant about being seen with him. Every day that he graces her with his presence is a day she asks herself why. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He blinks back the vision of his ex leaning against his locker and stores that particular memory in the back of his mind. "I just hadn't seen you in a while." He kisses the top of her head and pulls her into his arms, team duffle and all. For some reason he's reluctant to admit that he knows she turned his ex's attention on him.

Another girl gets picked up and Hannah realizes that her father is more then twenty minutes late now.

"Well you're a busy guy." She tries to joke, looking anxiously around at the fact that there are two freshmen waiting to be picked up before she's all alone. He can't stand out there forever with her.

"Not too busy for you." He shifts his back pack over his shoulder again and takes her gym bag from her. "Do you need a ride home?"

She debates telling him that her father will be there soon, but noting the look on his face she gives in, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. "Dad had a meeting this afternoon." She tells him as he bends to pick up her book bag from the concrete at her feet.

"I'm sure he just got caught up." Logan tries his best to look supportive. He knows he's failing before Hannah can put the phone to her ear. Logan Echolls knows next to nothing about parents that care. She leaves a quick message with her father's receptionist and then slides her phone into her purse. Logan's carrying all of her bags now as they head back into the school on their way to the student parking lot. "How was your day?"

Logan doesn't want to play that game, even with someone like Hannah who doesn't know any better. He'd had to dodge the inquisition that was Veronica Mars because of the princess in front of her, and he's not even supposed to be upset about it. "It was a day." He tells her after a moment. "I got my article finished at lunch and then I argued front page placement with the new advisor this afternoon." He spots Dick and Beaver as they round the corner by the cafeteria. He'd almost forgotten that Dick's truck was in the shop. "How was yours? "

"Pretty much uneventful." She sweeps her conversation with Veronica under the rug and Logan notices that she's twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers. She only does that when she's nervous.

He almost wants her to tell him that she saw Veronica at lunch. It would make the ache in his chest go away. As Dick and Beaver fall into step behind them, he turns, giving his best friend a harsh glare. "So you had nothing interesting happen today?" He prompts his girlfriend as his eyes still held his friends.

Dick knows it's only a matter of time before he's punished.

"Nothing interesting." She confirms, running a hand through her hair. "I got my AP History test back." She babbles, trying to tell him anything other then what he really wants to know. "I aced it."

"Good for you." They stop when they get to his Xterra in the parking lot, Beaver letting himself into the back seat as Logan pops the trunk. Everyone's bags go into the back and Logan opens Hannah's door for her before moving to the driver's side of the vehicle. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Veronica moving slowly to the LeBaron parked a few spaces over, her face buried in the article that she was proofreading. He shakes his head as he starts his car, allowing the classic rock on the radio to wash over him for a moment. He looks in the rearview mirror before pulling out, catching Dick's eye again.

"I was thinking about us going out tomorrow night." He ignores the two in the back seat, knowing that Hannah needs his full attention, at least until he drops her off. It's the one thing he remembers about girlfriends. "You pick the restaurant."

Hannah's eyes drop to her hands in her lap and she's suddenly glad that she talked to Veronica Mars at lunch. Whatever the blonde detective said to her boyfriend must have pulled him out of his funk. "How about that new place on Bridges Street?" She asked hopefully, her eyes turning to his. "Then maybe we can walk the boardwalk."

"Your wish is my command." Logan turned the radio down just a touch and pulled the Xterra out onto the highway. He's back to wanting to confront her about her lunch date, and his brain is burning with reasons why it would be a bad idea. "Tomorrow we should eat lunch together." He's no longer looking at her, choosing instead to be a cautious driver for once. Or as cautious as one can be doing ten over the speed limit down a busy street. "I'll order Chinese and we can sit with the rest of civilization." He wants to show Veronica that he can pretend with the best of them and that everything is okay. For a brief moment he wonders why it matters.

"That sounds great." She's toying with the strap of her purse now, wondering who this new man is and where her boyfriend went. He's not just back to his old self, he's different, and she's not sure if she likes it or not. Then again if he's paying attention to her like before why shouldn't she? When she notices him changing lanes she smiles up at him. "I'm going to my dad's house today." She reminds him gently.

And he changes lanes again.

For a brief second it's not Hannah sitting in his passenger seat but another blonde, laughing at him for being the obedient boyfriend and pointing out that he was so much better when he had a pair. He shakes off the vision of Lilly before pulling into Dr. Griffith's subdivision, running a hand over his face. He's got too many problems already, now is not the time to start seeing ghosts. "Do you need a ride to school tomorrow?" He asks as he turns into the good doctor's driveway. He throws the vehicle into park but keeps the engine idling.

Hannah's confused again, this is the first time he's offered her a ride to school. "I've got Becky from the track team picking me up." She announces to the car as she opens the door, Logan hot on her heels. He pops the trunk and pulls her bags out one at a time so she can situate them on her body before grabbing the next. "I'll see you tomorrow before first period." She says quickly, reaching up to give him a quick peck to the lips.

He wraps a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her deeper into the kiss that was supposed to be a touching of the lips. She's gasping for breath before he's even winded. "I'll see you tomorrow." He tells her sweetly, making sure that she's got all of her things before shutting the trunk, watching her head up to the house. She throws him a quick wave goodbye as he moves up to the front seat, noting that Dick has moved up to the seat previously occupied, and with a forced smile on his face he shuts the door, waving back to his girlfriend before she disappears.

The silence in the car is almost deafening.

He pulls out of the drive, double checking the mirrors and completely ignoring his best friend in the passenger seat. From the back seat he notes that Beaver has picked up on the tension, preferring to read then stare between the two. The youngest Casablancas brother was always intuitive that way.

Unfortunately Dick speaks first, not being well versed in silence. "She asked me to." He starts out, trying his hardest to not just blurt out their entire conversation. He knows he's in trouble, and he's not sure how deep.

Logan ignores him, focusing on his driving once again. It's a fifteen minute ride from this side of town to the heart of the '09er territory and he'd be perfectly fine with a quiet ride.

But Dick doesn't understand quiet. "I didn't think she would ask her to talk to you." Dick was almost babbling now, running a hand through his hair and turning sideways in his seat. "She just said that she wanted to talk to Ronnie."

"And what do you think she'd want to talk to her about?" He was angry now, emotions bottling up inside him like a coke bottle that has been shaken one too many times. "What's the common denominator there, Dick?" He realizes after he said it that there are a few words in that sentence that Dick may not know.

"She didn't tell me why she wanted to talk to her." He was adamant now that it wasn't his fault. "And you know if I didn't point her out, someone else would have. And then there would have been stories all over school."

That was the only thing that he was grateful for in the whole mess. Dick pointing Veronica out to Hannah probably saved him from the talk that usually would have gone along with his girlfriend sidling up to his ex. He turned onto a side road and glared at his friend quickly. "You could have warned me." He shook his head, trying to remind himself that he had dodged a bullet this afternoon with his ex. She didn't try to hard to probe into his life either for some reason. That would probably come back to bite him in the ass one day soon. "You could have told me that she wanted to talk to Ronica and that I should be on the lookout." He turned another corner and sighed. "I was completely unprepared when Veronica came up to me."

"She's just worried about you." Beaver piped up from the backseat; maybe he wasn't as smart as Logan gave him credit for. "Hannah said you weren't acting like yourself and she was trying to see if you were okay." Dating the pesky blonde's best friend did have some advantage. He had overheard Veronica and Mac talking after lunch, the former asking the latter about ways to approach her former beau.

"She doesn't need to be worried about me." Logan pulled onto the main stretch of road in the '09er zip and tilted the rearview so he could see Beaver better. "Neither one of them need to be worried about me."

"They do." Beaver looked up from his book and sighed. "You're quiet, closed off. Hell Logan, we've been worried about you too."

Logan almost screamed. This was not happening to him. "You didn't go to Veronica." He pulled up in front of the Casablancas house and slammed it into park.

"And she didn't do it to hurt you." Beaver grabbed his bag from the back over the top of his seat. "Cut her a little slack, she's new at this." He opened his door and came up beside the drivers, watching Logan roll his window down. "You staying for dinner?"

"I'd rather be alone." Logan said shortly.

Dick nodded and moved to the back to collect his bag. "We'll see you tomorrow then." Beaver turned on his heel, not waiting for his brother to catch up.

"You have to be nice to Ronica for a week." Logan announced over the sound of the engine. Dick's back stiffened but the blonde said nothing. Once both boys were in the house, Logan threw the car into reverse and headed home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: Use Somebody  
**Word** **Count**: 1,659  
**Pairings**: Logan/ Hannah Griffith, Logan/Veronica  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language. May change in the future.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Goes AU middle of season 2. Takes place just after 2.14 {Versatile Toppings}  
**Summary**: Being alone at lunch is an oddity as of late.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Veronica Mars characters and plots belong to Rob Thomas and the CW. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls, and any other character featured are NOT mine.

* * *

The envelope's still on the bar when he gets back to the suite, mocking him. He threw it away when he first received it, not caring why it was written or what it was doing in his possession. He'd tried to forget about it too, only to fish it out of the trash after taking his girlfriend home.

He glances at it as he throws his bag onto the couch, the crisp white wrapping holding the words that he neither wants to hear nor needs to know inside. He knows that he should toss it out again. Or burn it, less likely the chance of it making it into the news if it's a pile of ash. He doesn't know how many people know of its existence, and as he stares at it from across the room he's trying to find it in him to care.

There's a knock on the door and he realizes that he's been still entirely too long, staring at the counter. With a sigh and a stretch he heads over to the peep hole, wondering who's on the other side.

It's the pesky blonde ex and he curses himself for not knowing what she's doing there. Chances were he wouldn't like it.

"Well, well, well." He opens the door with practiced ease, leaning against it as she slides in through the crack he left. He's not sure when she obtained permission to enter the room, although knowing her it didn't even cross her mind that she wasn't welcome. She drops her messenger bag on the couch next to his book bag and turns to face him, completely sure that this isn't the place she needs to be. He drops the pretense of being nice as the door slams shut. "What do you want Veronica."

"I've been thinking about our conversation earlier." She tells him as she runs a hand through her hair. It's a sign of nervousness and they both know it. "And I know that you're not…" She leaves off the end of her sentence almost on purpose, knowing that he'd pick up on the fact that she's not only standing in the middle of his living room twirling her hair between her fingers but she's trying to put words together to make herself sound calm.

"I'm not what?" He asks, moving over to the counter and shoving the offending envelope underneath an old surf magazine. The second she sees it he knows it'll be all over.

She turns to watch him, noting the fact that there's something that he doesn't want her to see. "You're not fine." Her voice trembles at the last word and she hopes that he doesn't decide to throw her out. Their friendship has been nonexistent as of late and she doesn't want another fight.

"I'm perfectly fine." He tells her and himself as he drops onto the end of the couch furthest away from her. "I have a date with my girlfriend tomorrow; I'm going to be joining the generally populous for lunch." He takes a breath and forces it out of his mouth. "There's nothing wrong with me Veronica."

Crossing her arms over her chest she shakes her head. "That would be more convincing if I didn't know you." She decides, watching him twitch under her scrutiny.

"I'm wondering how much every second you're standing here." He snarks back to her, knowing that the longer she stays the closer she's going to get to the truth. It's the one thing he knows that she's right about. They were friends too long for her to forget what she knows about him. "Say what you want to say and then get out."

Her mouth twitches into a smile and she can't help but drop her defensive stance. He's trying to get rid of her which can only mean that she's right. "This isn't about Lilly." She says just to watch him stiffen. She threw it out there to test him. If his mood had been about his former girlfriend he would have tried to shout to the roof tops that it wasn't which can only mean one thing. "Are you going to tell me what's in the letter or do you want me to guess?"

"There's no letter Veronica." He tries to dodge, hoping that she didn't realize the thing that he was hiding was what he was denying. "It's a moot point."

"It's from your father." She guesses, watching his eyes close. She's hit the nail on the head and now she has no idea what her follow-up was supposed to be. "What did Aaron want?"

"Couldn't tell you." He stands now, moving father away from her towards the balcony. He opens the door to let the breeze spread through the room. He knows that she knows and he can't find it in him to lie anymore. "Didn't open it." It's the closest he's getting to truthful with her, and he vows to himself that he's going to kick her out after she makes her point.

He doesn't know that she no longer has one.

She opens her mouth, only to close it again. She has nothing prepared for this. If it was about Lilly she would be able to help him. They both loved her and she wouldn't want him hurting anymore. But there's no common ground about his father. Other then the fact that he beat the hell out of his son almost every night since he was seven and then locked Veronica in a freezer and lit it on fire. "Logan –"

"Don't." He points to the door, knowing that she's no closer to leaving then he is to throwing her out. "Just don't." She closes her eyes and when they open, he can see her tears. "My father wrote me from prison, big deal." His hand drops and he nods in the direction of the door again. "You know my big secret, now see yourself out."

She doesn't move. He knows that she's not leaving; he just can't do anything about it. "Do you want to read it?" She asks after a moment.

He shakes his head. Still not sure what's wrong with the fact that they're still having a conversation. "I was actually trying to decide the best way to dispose of it when you showed up." He announced, moving back to the counter and pulling the hidden envelope from its spot under the surf magazine. Holding it up for examination he knows what she's thinking. It's the same pity she showed for him when she found out about the beatings. "But again, it's my problem."

She takes it from him, watching as a breath rushes out of his lips when they touch. "This is why you've been backing away from everyone." She looks it over, and wonders how so much can be contained in a tiny package. It's the epitome of hell for Logan and it's just scratchings on a piece of paper.

"I've solved the Hannah problem." He told her quickly snatching the envelope away from her and tossing it onto the coffee table. "You won't get anymore visits and don't need to worry anymore."

"Logan." She ignores where he threw the envelope, choosing instead to put her hand on his arm. Electricity jolts when their skin touches and both of them have to force themselves not to take a step back. "You can talk to me."

"I don't know what to say." It's the first completely honest statement he's made since receiving the damned letter and he's not sure why it's Veronica that he's talking to. "I don't know what you want to hear."

They're talking in circles, and neither one of them knows how to stop.

"You're not fine."

He nods. "I'm not fine." He repeats, almost as if she made him.

"How are you?" She asks softly.

He breaks the contact of their skin, hoping that if she's no longer touching him then he'd not be compelled to spill it all out to her. "I'm…" He takes a breath, still not sure. "I'm…"

Her hands are back on his arms before he can think of anything she almost forces their gazes to lock. "You're –" She prompts slowly. "Angry, confused, sad." She's trying to supply him with adjectives to try to get him talking.

"I'm…" He tears his eyes away from hers and shakes his head. "I'm not talking about this with you." He decides after a moment.

"If it's not with me who are you going to talk about it with?" She knows he has no one he can tell and it breaks her heart.

"I don't need to talk about it." He's pissed and the anger is radiating off of him to her. He almost forgets that she's still touching him. "I don't need Dr. Phil to tell me that I need closure and that I need to read the damn thing."

"I'm not telling you to read it." She pulls him closer. "I'm just trying to make sure that you're going to be okay with the fact that it came."

"I'm fine." He growls it at her, noting the proximity. "It's here and I'm probably going to burn it and I don't care what it says."

The room is quiet, almost too much so with the balcony door open and air sliding in from it. "You're lying to somebody here." She whispers, knowing that they're too close and she's too close to the truth. She shouldn't be standing here, she shouldn't be touching him.

"Just stop." He pushes her away again, and he crosses the room with heavy strides. On the other side of the couch he watches her and wonders when it was she began to care so much.

She follows him, not sure if it's because she needs to contact to know what he's thinking or if it's because from across the room he's someone else. "You need to –"

His lips are on hers before he can stop himself and he's not entirely sure why.

* * *

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this, but I'm attempting to revive some of my old fics.


End file.
